To get a Monroe County order of protection, file a Family Offense Petition at the Monroe County Family Court in the Hall of Justice in Rochester. There is no filing fee. A judge can issue a Temporary Order of Protection the same day you file, and a final order after the other person is served and both sides appear in court. You can also, or instead, pursue protection through Criminal Court; New York law lets you use one, the other, or both at once.
Who Can File
Family Court protection is only available if you and the person who harmed you share a specific kind of relationship. Qualifying relationships include a current or former spouse, a blood relative, someone you share a child with, or someone you are or were in an intimate relationship with. That last category is broader than people assume. You do not need to have lived together, and the relationship does not need to have been sexual. The judge looks at how often you had contact and how long the relationship lasted to decide whether it counts.1New York State Senate. Family Court Act 812 – Procedures for Family Offense Proceedings
The conduct also has to fit. Assault, harassment, stalking, menacing, reckless endangerment, strangulation, and criminal obstruction of breathing all qualify, along with less obvious offenses like criminal mischief, identity theft, grand larceny, and coercion. If the behavior would be a crime under the Penal Law and happened between people in a qualifying relationship, it almost certainly falls within Family Court’s reach.1New York State Senate. Family Court Act 812 – Procedures for Family Offense Proceedings
Family Court, Criminal Court, or Both
Family Court and Criminal Court have concurrent jurisdiction over domestic violence offenses. You have the right to proceed in one, the other, or both at the same time, and the court must tell you about this option the first time you appear.1New York State Senate. Family Court Act 812 – Procedures for Family Offense Proceedings
The two tracks do different work. Family Court focuses on your safety. It can issue an order of protection, address custody, and order the respondent into a batterer intervention program, but it cannot send anyone to jail. Criminal Court can impose jail and a criminal record, but the district attorney controls the case, not you. Many people file in both so a protective order is in place while the criminal case moves on its own schedule. If abuse happens on a weekend or after hours when Family Court is closed, a criminal court arraignment judge can issue a temporary order of protection to cover you until Family Court reopens.2Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Orders of Protection
Filing the Petition
You start by filling out a Family Offense Petition. You can pick one up at the Monroe County Family Court clerk’s office or prepare it through an online e-filing program used by domestic violence advocates and legal aid providers.3Pro Bono Net. Family Offense Petition Program The petition asks for identifying details about the respondent, including name, address, and physical description, so the order can be served and enforced.
The core of the petition is your account of what happened. Be specific. List dates, times, locations, and exactly what the respondent did or said. Bring any supporting evidence you have: police report numbers from prior calls, photos of injuries, screenshots of threatening messages, medical records. These give the judge something beyond your word alone. You do not need a lawyer to file. There is no fee for a domestic violence petition and no fee to have the order served.
The Same-Day Temporary Order
Once you file, you go before a judge the same day for an ex parte hearing. The respondent is not present. The judge reviews your petition and decides whether there is good cause to issue a Temporary Order of Protection immediately.4New York State Senate. Family Court Act 828 – Temporary Order of Protection A temporary order is not a finding that the respondent did anything wrong. It is a safety measure that holds until the next court date.
A temporary order can carry the same conditions as a final one, including stay-away provisions, exclusive use of the home, and a requirement to surrender firearms. The judge weighs the severity of past incidents, any history of prior orders, threats, substance abuse, and whether the respondent has access to weapons.5New York State Senate. Temporary Order of Protection
Serving the Respondent and the Return Date
An order has no force until the respondent knows about it. In Monroe County, service by law enforcement is the default and typically the safest option. Any person who is at least 18 and not a party to the case can also hand-deliver the papers.2Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Orders of Protection The server must physically hand the documents to the respondent. Leaving them on a doorstep does not count.
If personal delivery fails after genuine repeated attempts, substituted service is available: delivering the papers to a person of suitable age at the respondent’s home or workplace, then mailing a copy by first-class mail within 20 days. If that also fails, a “nail and mail” method lets you attach the papers to the door and mail a copy. Both methods require a detailed affidavit of the prior attempts, filed with the County Clerk within 20 days. As a last resort, you can ask the judge to authorize another method entirely.6New York State Unified Court System. How to Serve Papers When Commencing an Action or Proceeding
After service, the court schedules a return date where both parties appear and the judge hears from both sides. This hearing usually falls within a few weeks of the initial filing. The judge then decides whether to issue a final order of protection and what conditions it will include.
What a Final Order Can Require
A final order can be tailored to your situation. Common provisions include:
- Stay-away requirements covering your home, workplace, school, and any other location the judge designates.
- No contact, and no family offense, harassment, intimidation, or threats against you, your children, or anyone who has custody of your children.
- Exclusive possession of a shared residence, even if the respondent is on the lease.
- Specific child visitation terms for a parent respondent.
- Mandatory attendance at a batterer intervention program, which may include drug and alcohol counseling, at the respondent’s own expense.
- Payment of medical costs arising from the abuse, directly or through health insurance.
- A prohibition on injuring or killing any companion animal belonging to you or your children.
- Prompt return of any identification documents belonging to you.
- Surrender of firearms.
The judge weighs the full picture, including the respondent’s history of prior orders, the extent of past injuries, and whether the order’s safety purpose can be met without certain restrictions.7New York State Senate. New York Family Court Act FCT 842
Firearms
A judge in Monroe County can order the respondent to surrender all firearms immediately. On top of any state-level surrender requirement, federal law makes it a crime for anyone subject to a qualifying protective order to possess a firearm or ammunition. The order qualifies if it was issued after a hearing where the respondent had notice and an opportunity to participate, it restrains the person from harassing or threatening an intimate partner or child, and it either includes a finding that the person poses a credible threat or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force. A separate federal provision permanently bars anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms, even after the order expires.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
If the Respondent Violates the Order
Violating an order of protection is a crime. Under New York’s mandatory arrest law, officers responding to a domestic violence call must arrest the person if there is reasonable cause to believe a felony was committed against a family or household member, or that a served order of protection was violated. The law expressly prohibits officers from trying to mediate or reconcile the parties instead of making an arrest.9New York State Senate. Criminal Procedure Law 140.10 – Arrest Without a Warrant
The charge depends on the conduct. A straightforward violation typically results in criminal contempt in the second degree, a misdemeanor. The charge rises to criminal contempt in the first degree, a Class E felony, if the respondent threatens or intimidates the protected person by displaying a weapon, engages in a pattern of stalking-type behavior, makes repeated harassing communications, or physically contacts them in violation of the order. It also rises to the felony level if the respondent violates a stay-away provision after having been convicted of criminal contempt for an order-of-protection violation within the previous five years.10New York State Senate. Penal Law 215.51 – Criminal Contempt in the First Degree
Keeping Your Address Confidential
If you have relocated or plan to move for safety, New York’s Address Confidentiality Program gives you a substitute mailing address so your real location stays out of public records. The program is open to victims of intimate partner violence, sexual offenses, stalking, trafficking, and kidnapping, along with household members of the victim. You can apply through the Department of State’s website or get help from a local application assistance provider.11Department of State. Address Confidentiality Program
Local Help in Monroe County
A court order works best alongside a broader safety plan. If you are still living with the respondent or preparing to leave, keep identification, birth certificates, and medications in a bag you can grab quickly, and identify where you would go in an emergency and how you would get there. Leaving is often the most dangerous moment.
The Willow Domestic Violence Center of Greater Rochester runs a 24-hour hotline at (585) 222-SAFE (7233) and provides emergency shelter, safety planning, counseling, and court advocacy for Monroe County residents. Advocates can help you complete your petition, go with you to court, and connect you with legal aid.